Monday, November 7, 2016

Hacksaw Ridge

Director Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw
Ridge is an amazing film on several levels.

First of all, it is a
harrowing view of what war is really like.I can’t remember of film that is as relentlessly graphic regarding the
horror that happens on a battlefield.And, it is only watchable because of the hero of the film, a man who
abhors what is going on and is only there to try and save as many lives he can.

This is the true story of
Desmond Dawes, a young man from Virginia, who can’t abide staying safely at
home while his brother and friends go off to war.Yet, his religion forbids taking a life and
he won’t even hold a rifle.

Thinking he would become a
medic, he ended up in a rifle battalion and had to suffer insults and beatings
until he was court-martialed for disobeying his commander and had to go through
a trial before being given the status as conscientious objector and, finally,
allowed to become a medic.

It is Dawes’ incredible service
on Okinawa that becomes the core of the film.

Dawes is admirably played
by Andrew Garfield and other standout performances include Rachel Griffiths and
Hugo Weaving as Dawes’ parents, as well as Teresa Palmer as the woman who
becomes his wife.

The script by Robert
Schenkkan and Andrew Knight is tight and to the point.John Gilbert’s editing is fabulous and Barry
Robison’s Production Design is absolutely wonderful.It’s unbelievable that Gibson pulled together
this production for a quarter of the cost spent on superhero fictions.

About Me

Brian Porzak: I am a cinephile who likes to view films with a live audience. My taste runs the gamut, including indies, studio films, foreign films and most all genres. Because I see so many films, friends often ask me what to see. So, I thought I'd blog about what is worth seeing or not. As a writer/filmmaker myself, I hope to give a more uplifting perspective than the typical critic. Filmmaking is tremendously difficult. Just because some problems might exist in a particular work does not, necessarily, destroy its enjoyability and I think that is necessary to point out to would-be viewers.
See www.Aix-en-Film.com